Corning to Present 2005 Optical Fiber Market Overview; Optical Fiber Market Grew 15 Percent in 2005; Fiber-to-the-Home Deployments Continue to Drive Fiber Demand

Business Wire, March 7, 2006

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) will provide its perspective on the 2005 worldwide optical fiber market with a focus on global fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) activity. The 25th annual Optical Fiber Briefing will be held today via conference call and live audio webcast in conjunction with the OFC/NFOEC Conference in Anaheim, Calif., at 8:30 a.m. PST.

The overview, presented by Eric S. Musser, vice president and general manager of Corning Optical Fiber, will include a breakdown of fiber volume demand by region and application. Musser will also address Corning's 2005 telecommunications segment performance, its plan for 2006 and provide an update on Corning fiber, cable, hardware and equipment product developments.

2005 Fiber Market

Musser will say the total 2005 worldwide fiber market grew approximately 15 percent to 68 million kilometers versus last year's market of about 58 million fiber kilometers. Musser will attribute the growth to robust demand for broadband internet connections, including FTTH. He will add that North America and China were the two largest fiber markets and represented more than 50 percent of the world's demand.

In a breakdown by region, Musser will say the North American market grew approximately 30 percent year-over-year driven primarily by the full-year impact of Verizon's FiOS(TM) project, as well as additional deep-fiber deployments by other regional bell operating companies. Another driver was the rural local exchange carriers' continued steady build out of FTTH, primarily to add video capability to their communications networks.

Musser will say China represented about 20 percent of worldwide demand and experienced 10 percent growth versus 2004, which was driven by network investment at China Mobile. He will add that China has become one of the most price-challenged markets worldwide due to excess optical fiber manufacturing capacity and a centrally controlled tender process.

Western Europe, representing 15 percent of the worldwide demand, increased by approximately 10 percent driven primarily by increased activity from the PTTs, who are upgrading their networks to keep pace with broadband demand.

Japan, representing 15 percent of the worldwide demand, increased 15 percent following a 40 percent decrease in 2004. Musser will say this was driven by stronger demand from NTT for their FTTH network build and competitive FTTH network activity from power utility companies.

"Other Asia," which represented 10 percent of the worldwide demand, experienced moderate year-over-year growth primarily due to broadband deployments in South Korea and backbone and metro builds in India and Pakistan. The "Rest of World" segment, which comprised 5 percent of the worldwide demand, was flat in 2005 versus 2004.

Musser will continue by breaking out the estimated 2005 optical fiber demand and growth rates by application. He will say that in 2005 metro and access represented 85 percent of global fiber demand. "Following growth of 20 percent in 2004 the access segment increased about 25 percent in 2005, greater than any other segment," Musser will add. "Access now represents a full 50 percent of total worldwide demand and we believe it will continue to be the principle growth segment."

Musser will say metro demand grew approximately 10 percent. He will add that the metro fiber segment in North America, Western Europe and China continued to grow as broadband subscribers increased and drove the need for more bandwidth.

The long-haul terrestrial/submarine segment accounted for 10 percent of the total worldwide demand and the segment was flat. Musser will say there were some limited extensions of existing long-haul networks in North America and Western Europe, but that long-haul demand continues to come from emerging markets such as Latin America, Russia and the Middle East. He will add that the submarine segment saw solid growth in 2005, although off a very small base, as most fiber inventories were consumed in 2004.

The premises market, accounting for 5 percent of the total worldwide demand, grew by about 5 percent.

Telecommunications Segment Review

Musser will briefly review the 2005 results for Corning's Telecommunications segment. He will note that Corning achieved most of its objectives in 2005 including continued improvements in financial performance. "The Telecommunications segment was profitable, it was a top cash contributor for Corning in 2005 and sales increased year-over-year driven by growth in each of our businesses: optical fiber, cable and hardware and equipment," Musser will say.

While addressing the Corning Telecommunications segment plan for 2006, Musser will say the company will continue to focus on financial performance and pursue the FTTx opportunity through innovation. "Corning is unique in that we are positioned to optimize cost and performance across all three core elements of the passive plant with fiber, cable and hardware and equipment," Musser will add.

Product Innovation

Musser will say that innovation continues to be important to the access space and Corning continued its legacy of innovation by bringing over 20 new fiber, cable, hardware and equipment products to market in 2005.